Charging machine



'March 21, 1939. H, W] BALL 2,151,003

CHARGING MAGHI'NE I Filed Aug. 23, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet Il..I

March 21, 1939.Y H. w. BALL CHARGING MACHINE Filed Aug. 25, 1938 5Sheets-Sheet 2 March 21, 1939. H. w. BALL.

CHARGING MACHINE Filed Aug. 25, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 21,1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Morgan Engineering Company,

Ohio

Alliance,

Application .August 23, 1938, Serial No..226,380

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in charging apparatus for openhearth furnaces, and more particularly to novel operating gear forlocking charging boxes to the peel of such a machine.

.i In explanation of my invention, reference will be made to the TaylorU. S. Patent No. 1,444,282 dated Feb. 6, 1923, which shows a sideelevation of an open hearth charging machine, the bridge or chassis ofwhich runs on wide gage tracks parlo allel with a battery of furnaces.Between the furnaces and such tracks there is a standard gage track usedfor carrying cars loaded with charging boxes. The peel of the chargingmachine picks up loaded boxes from the cars and dumps their l5 contentsinto the furnace.

In such a structure, the peel head is provided with a locking bar orcross piece which is drawn into notches in each charging box for thepurpose of locking the box to the head of the peel so that the box maybe carried by the peel.

The locking and unlocking action of the crosspiece has been performedheretofore by moving a rod which runs centrally through the peel bymeans of a hand lever mounted directly on the '3 rear end portion of thepeel housing.Y As the peel housing is fulcrumed at its medial portion toallow vertical movement, the operator whoV stands on a fixed platformhas some difliculty in handling such lever. As the operator is at 30 axed station and the rear end of the peel hous ing moves up and down, hemust reach down for the lever when the peel head is engaging a box in ahigh position, and he must stand on tip-toe to operate the lever whenthe peel head engages :z5 a box in a low position.

Recently such arrangement has been improved by employing a lever havingan axis that is fixed relatively to the operators platform, and toconnect such lever to the locking rod of the pee-1 by i'l means whichallows the operator to perform locking and unlocking actions at anyposition of the peel without stooping or standing on tip-toe.

The primaryV purpose of my invention is to improve upon all sucharrangements by con- 43 trolling the locking rod by means arrangeddirectly on the rear end of the peel.

A further object is to provide the rear end of the peel with a motorwhich may be readily controlled from the operators platform whereby the.1i operator may perform locking and unlocking actions at any positionof the peel, even while sitting on the operators platform.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view whichwill appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in thenovel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and more particularly pointedout in the appendedclaims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a floor charger involving my invention andshowing a portion of a charging box, charging box car and a portion ofan open hearth furnace.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the lo rear end of thecharger (these parts being in dotted lines) and also showing in fulllines my improved mechanism mounted on the rear end of the peel housing,the locking rod being in unlocked position. 15

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the peel housing provided with myimprovements.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of such mechanism with the locking rod inlocking position.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of one end portion of a conventional chargingbox.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the head of the peel.

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the head portion of the peeland the locking rod. 25

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of one end of the charging box takenon the line 8 8 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is an elevation of one end of the charging box.

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are detail views respectively illustrating thepositions of the locking rod-actuating lever and crank when the lockingrod is respectively in locked position, neutral position and unlockedposition.

In the drawings, I0 designates the bridge of a charging machine forminga guide or tracks for a carriage Illa. having a stationary operatorsstation or platform II. I2 designates the housing of the peel I2a, (Fig.'7), which is pivotally mounted at I3 on a stationary arm I4 of thecharging machine. The pivot is positioned at the front end of thecarriage and about midway the ends of the peel housing, and itshorizontal axis is iixed relatively to the stationary arm I4. A con- 5ventional axially movable locking rod I5 extends through the peel andit'is provided at its forward end with a cross-piece I6which moves withthe rod in the head I8 of the peel. As is customary, the peel head isadapted to enter a vertical pocket I9 50 in the end of the charging box20 (Figs. 5, 8 and 9), which pocket communicates with a crossshaped slot2| in an end wall 22 of the box. The notches 23 forming part of the slot2| receive the endsof the cross-piece I6 after the peel head has 55 beenengaged with the charging box, and when the locking rod I5 is movedrearwardly.

In accordance with my invention (Figs. 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 and 12) the rearend of the locking rod I5 is provided with a cross-head 24 havingoppositely projecting pintles 25 which engage elongated upper slots 26in an actuating lever` 21. The latter is pivotally connected at itsupper ends to a horizontal pin 28 carried by the outer end of a crank 29that is fixedly mounted on a horizontal shaft 30, journalled in bearings3| on the rear end of the peel housing I2.

The shaft is provided With a fixed gear 32, meshing with a pinion 33driven by any suitable prime mover 34 mounted on the rear endof the peelhousing. I prefer that the prime mover be an electric motor that iselectrically connected with a control switch 35 arranged on theoperators station or platform II.

The lever 21 is also provided with elongated lower slots 36 whichreceive pintles 31 projecting from brackets 38 arranged on the rear endof the peel housing I2.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that when the mechanism is in theposition shown in Fig. 2 and the operating rod I5 is in unlockedposition, the peel may be manipulated in the customary manner so as tobring its head I8 into the pocket I9 of a charging box 20 arranged on aloading car (see Fig. 1). Then the motor 34 is actuated to cause thecrank 29 to turn approximately 180 degrees which in turn'causes thelever 21 to shift in a counter-clockwise direction to move lthe lockingrod I5 rearwardly which forces the cross piece I6 of the peel head intothe notches 23 or into locking position. 'Ihen the peel may bemanipulated to lift the charging box and to deposit its contents intothe furnace. After the charging box is withdrawn from the furnace, ofcourse, the motor 34 may be again actuated to shift the lever 21 in aclockwise direction so as to disengage the cross piece I6 from thenotches 23 to allow the peel head I8 to be released from the chargingbox.

From Figs. 10, 11 and 12, it will be observed that the lower slots 36 inthe lever 21 which engage the pins or pintles 31 are of such a lengththat they limit the rotation of the crank 29 to something over 180degrees of movement. In other words, at the locked or unlocked position,the crank travels a few degrees beyond thev horizontal center line.Thus, any unintentional movement of the locking rod I5 in eitherdirection in a horizontal position tending to rotate the crank, isarrested either by the slots in the lever 21 coming against pins 31, ifthe movement is from leftto right, or if in the reverse direction, themovement holds the lever 21 in an extreme horizontal position. Thus, Iobtain a locked condition of the rod in both extremes of its travel.

As will be clear to those skilled in electricity, I can arrange thecontrol of the motor to automatically cut off the current at the stalledposi* tions which are the ends of the strokes, or I can use the recentlyperfected small torque motor which allows a stalled condition.

From the above it will be appreciated that I have invented a new andimproved means of operating the locking rod in an open hearth chargingmachine, and as it does not require any mechanical connection and linksand end levers between the operators platform and the peel housing, ithas a safety feature of being locked in both locked and unlockedpositions.

Many modifications of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art without departing therefrom or from the scope of the claims, andsince the foregoing disclosure has been given by way of example, forclearness and understanding, no unnecessary limitations should beunderstood and the appended claims should be construed as broadly as thestate of the art permits. v

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a charging machine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted formovement about a horizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise ofthe peel and carried by the latter, a lever having slotted portionsoperatively connected to the rod and to the peel housing, said leverbeing swingable about its slotted portion where it is connected to saidhousing, and moto-r-operated means operatively connected to the leverfor swinging the latter and actuating said rod` 2. In la chargingmachine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted for movement about ahorizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise of the peel andcarried by the latter, a lever having slotted portions operativelyconnected to the rod and to the peel housing, said lever being swingableabout its slotted portion where it is connected to said housing, andmotor-operated means operatively connected to the lever for swinging thelatter and actuating said rod, said motor-operated means being supportedin its entirety by the peel housing.

3. In a charging machine, the combination with a peel having a housingpivotally mounted for movement about a horizontal axis and a movablelocking rod carried by the peel, of a motor-0perated shaft mounted onthe peel housing, a crank driven by the shaft, a lever pivotallyconnected to and suspended from the crank, said lever having a slottedlower portion, fixed guide means carried by said housing and engagingthe slotted portion of the lever for guiding the latter, said lever alsohaving an upper slotted portion arranged between its first-mentionedslotted portion and the crank, and guide means operatively connected tothe locking rod and extending into the upper slotted portion of saidlever.

4. Means for shifting the locking rod of the peel of a charging machinecomprising a peel housing, a motor mounted on the peel housing, a shaftdriven by the motor and having a crank, a lever actuated by the crankand having one of its end portions connected to the crank, the oppositeend portion of the lever being slotted lengthwise and guided by a fixedpart carried by the peel housing, said lever having a slotted medialportion, and means operatively connected to the rod and extending intothe slotted medial portion of the lever. f

5. In a charging machine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted formovement about a horizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise ofthe peel and carried by the latter, a motor supported by the rear endportion of the housing, crank means driven by the motor, a lever havingone of its ends pivotally connected to the crank means and shifted bythe latter, means operatively connecting the other end portion of thelever to said housing and for guiding the lever longitudinally as it isshifted by the crank means, and means shiftable lengthwise of the medialportion of the lever and operatively connecting the rear end of thelocking rod to said lever.

6. In a charging machine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted formovement aboutY a horizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise ofthe peel and carried by the latter, a motor supported by the rear endportion of the housing, crank means driven by the motor, a lever havingone of its ends pivotally connected to the crank means and shifted bythe latter, means operatively connecting the other end portion of thelever to said housing and for guiding the lever longitudinally as it isshifted by the crank means, and means shiftable lengthwise of the medialportion of the lever and operatively connecting the rear end of thelooking rod to said lever, the means operatively connecting the lever tothe housing functioning to cause the crank means to move slightly over180 degrees each time the locking rod is shifted either forwardly orrearwardly.

7. In a charging machine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted formovement about a horizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise ofthe peel and carried by the latter, a lever having one of itsl endportions pivotally connected to the rear end of the housing, meansconnecting the rear end of the locking rod to the medial portion of saidlever, a rotatable member connected to the other end portion of thelever, and motoroperated means mounted on the housing and operativelyconnected to the rotatable member for swinging the lever and actuatingsaid rod.

8. In a charging machine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted formovement about a horizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise ofthe peel and carried by the latter, a lever having one of its endportions pivotally connected to the rear end of the housing, meansconnecting the rear end of the locking rod to the medial portion of saidlever, a rotatable member connected to the other end portion of thelever, and motor-operated means mounted on the housing and operativelyconnected tothe rotatable member for swinging the lever and actuatingsaid rod, said lever being slotted to accommodate movement of therotatable member.

9. In a charging machine, a peel having a housing pivotally mounted formovement about a horizontal axis, a locking rod movable lengthwise ofthe peel and carried by the latter, a lever having one of its endportions pivotally connected to the rear end of said housing, a slot andpin connection at the medial portion of the lever connecting the leverto the rear end of the locking rod, a rotatable member connected to theopposite end portion of the lever, and motor-operated means operativelyconnected to the rotatable member for swinging the lever and actuatingsaid rod.

HARVEY W. BALL.

